The Unknown Fiddler
by LaSiciliaBella
Summary: Human AU. A BulRo fic. It's the second year in college in United States and Bulgaria and Romania who are living in the dorms across from each other meet in the week before classes start. At the same time, a mystery fiddler appears and this leads Bulgaria to wanting find out more.
1. Chapter 1

**The Unknown Fiddler**

**A/N: Currently, I'm working on the other RoBul fic "You Have a Cute Nose" on Microsoft Word, but for now, I decided to do a multi chapter fic, "The Unknown Artist". It's going to be the first AU fic I ever done. Plus I haven't done a multi chapter fic in a year and half. At least, since I've put my earlier one, "Freedom, Justice" on hiatus for over a year now.**

**Characters are Mircea Tomescu (Romania) and Nikolai Tsvetanov (Bulgaria). The original characters belong to Mr. Himaruya, creator of "Hetalia: Axis Powers".**

….

'_Why do I get a feeling that this day won't be your usual first day back?'_

Moving his way through a slightly crowded hallway, a brunette haired man took his time to find his dorm. Unlike last year when he had to share a dorm with another student, Mircea Tomescu got the new dorm to himself. This means he got more privacy and personal time to himself for the whole year.

Mircea had returned to United States on a student visa for a local university after spending summer back home with his family in his native Romania. Plus he had gotten a scholarship, so his parents didn't have to worry about paying for tuition. Of course the Romanian still had to buy things for himself as needed. His younger brother, Andrei, was also joining him, entering in his first year.

Now entering into his new dorm, Mircea then started unpacking his bag and boxes. He just wanted to crash onto his bed and lay there. Sighing, the Romanian then proceeded to put up books, posters containing his favorite local team, small desk lamp, and so on. Once he was done setting things up and decorating, he had one more thing to do: make a warning poster.

'_This will teach them not to mess with me again,'_ he thought, chuckling. As soon as he pulled a cap off a marker, a familiar smell hit his nose.

"Ugh," he groaned and did his best to ignore the awful smell. Carefully and in his best handwriting, Mircea wrote, _"To everyone who tries to get me to join the magic club or similar clubs, do it and I will find ways to torture you. Have a nice day."_ It was in both Romanian and English.

"Teaching them a lesson, are we?" A voice with Bulgarian accent appeared behind the Romanian. He turned around to see who it was.

"Since when are you invading my dorm?" he asked, now annoyed. The other student, dark haired and with green eyes, was leaning on the doorway. A wide smirk was on his lips.

"Since you left the door open. Who knows what perverts could come into here? And nice decorations," the taller student chuckled. Mircea narrowed his eyes, but knew that he was right. He would have to be more careful next time. But a small smile appeared on his lips.

"You have a point there. _Mulţumesc_," he muttered, turning a bit red and stood up. "Excuse my manners. I never got your name. Mircea Tomescu."

"Nikolai Tsvetanov. I'm living in the dorm across from yours, so I suppose we'll be seeing each other much." Nikolai said after taking one last look around in the other's room. "Now, about that poster. You're still going to hang it up?"

"Yep, you can help me pick out the best spot for it," Mircea laughed, then bent down to get his poster. As he picked it up, the Bulgarian turned a bit red when he had a nice view of his neighbor's rear. The Romanian had just realized that. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat as he slowly stood up. "Um… the spot, if you please.."

Shaking his head, Nikolai smiled. "Sure, it should be on the front door. Unless others could consider it threating and might be even a harassment. If that's so, then how about a wall by the door?" he snickered.

"Perfect. I'll hang it on the wall. The door's not bad, but I'll play it safe," the Romanian said, smiling happier. After using the tape to hang the poster, Mircea turned to the Bulgarian. "In case you were wondering, I was invited to join the Magic Club last year. It was great until one day, a certain Brit had to pull out the Ouija board and I left the room right away, never to return to the club for good. He blames me for not taking part in it…" he said, sighing.

Nikolai raised his eyebrow, but shook his head again. "I'm not into magic and stuff like that, but I agree with you on the Ouija board- it's bad news." Rubbing the back of his head, the Bulgarian looked at the other. A soft smile crept onto his lips. "Since I've invaded your dorm, it's only fair if you can come into mine," he said, chuckling.

Mircea now grinned at this, revealing his famed "canine" tooth. He also raised his eyebrow. "Sounds suggestive, but okay then. Lead the way." He tried not to giggle at how the taller student sounded. Nikolai whined a bit, but went back into his own dorm. Sitting down onto his bed, the Bulgarian watched the Romanian, who had followed him.

"I'd rather you didn't make my comment sound dirty…" he grumbled, but just relaxed though. Mircea was busy taking in the surroundings in Nikolai's dorm. Smiling softly, the Romanian sat onto a nearby chair. The Bulgarian suddenly felt at ease with the other around. He didn't know why, but something about the shorter man from Romania was taking him in.

Mircea was now propping his cheek on his hand. He had now noticed that Nikolai was relaxing. Curious, he asked the other. "Are you usually this relaxed when meeting new people or just those you know well? Or just me?"

Chuckling quietly, Nikolai then answered. "Just those I know well. But you're the first new person I'm at ease with." With that, he stretched his arms and lay back onto his bed. "Besides, you're not so bad compared to the other students I had to deal with last year. Most are just being immature and learning to be adults in real world…"

"Hmm… so I'm the first new person. Nice to know," Mircea said, smiling a bit. "By the way, correct me if I'm wrong, but your accent and name tell me you're from Bulgaria."

"You heard right. My voice tends to be like that after staying home over summer and when I come to an English speaking nation, it shows," Nikolai explained, now sitting up. Then, his stomach growled. A bit red in his face, the Bulgarian chuckled sheepishly. "Erm… want to get something to eat? I'm paying for it."

The Romanian thought for a bit. They had just met and already they were getting a bit friendly. Yet he wanted to know more about the other. Besides, he had been interested in what Nikolai's life and background was like. Plus him alone. "_Da_. I'm kind of feeling hungry as well. I just need to check on my brother first-"

"OI! Tomesecu, what are you doing here and care to explain that bloody poster of yours?!" Another voice had come from the hallway. It was Arthur Kirkland, a second year from London, England. He had clearly seen Mircea's poster after going into the other's doom to check on everything. He also happened to be an DA, too. Being the DA was rough, especially a week before courses started. There were signs of stress on his face, but also being irked, perhaps even really pissed off.

At this, Nikolai leaned his chin on his hands. "Mircea told me what happened in the Magic Club of yours last year. Using the Ouija board? Tsk tsk," he said, raising his eyebrow at the sudden outburst.

The Brit scowled at him. He didn't need more trouble and those two were plenty. "None of your business, Tsvetanov," he snapped. His bushy eyebrows furrowed deeply. Sighing, Arthur then took one last look at the other two, rubbing his temple on the right. "I need to check on others. Do me one favor: take that poster of yours down or there will be problems. Got it? I'll be watching you two." He then left to deal with a unruly student three doors down from the left.

Scoffing, Mircea then rolled his eyes. "Well, I'll just pop in and check on Andrei- my younger brother. See how he's settling in," he chuckled, getting up and just stretched. The Bulgarian smirked. He got up as well, too, and followed the other out of the dorm. Once the Romanian got to his own dorm, he took another look at the warning poster. Standing there, Mircea pondered on what to make it better.

Nikolai had come up behind the shorter male. "If I can suggest, I'll be happy to write the same message in my language," he snickered. He enjoyed pissing off people who annoyed him. "Give me that marker."

A large smirk was on the Romanian's lips. Looking around, Mircea found where he'd left it: on his desk. He handed it to the Bulgarian, who in turn, copied the same message in his own native language. Now there was a message in Cyrillic letters, used in Slavic languages.

"Perfect. We could even continue this in other languages, but I think we have gotten enough heat from that wound-up guy," Mircea said quietly, looking at the newest addition. Then he remembered. "You didn't say where to meet."

"Oh, yeah. How about that small café near the river? It's not far from here," Nikolai suggested. The campus was just three blocks from the river, being near a historic district. Nodding, the Romanian smiled and went off to find his brother.

…

It was a clear evening as the Romanian walked along the old cobbled sidewalk. He was meeting the Bulgarian at the café for a light meal together. Which it was unusual for him in meeting someone for the first time. Half hour earlier, Mircea had found his brother in middle of a fight with a bigger roommate. He just stood there watching, sighing to himself. Andrei tended to start small fights on almost everything and this time, it was over on having enough space for his personal stuff. After getting his brother to calm down, the Romanian just hugged him and left the building. He chuckled at the memory of Andrei making faces upon receiving a hug. After ten minutes or so, he found the café and decided to look for Nikolai.

Nikolai had found a table earlier, but asked a waitress to wait with the menus. Mircea headed inside and was told that the Bulgarian was out on the patio by the river. Smiling as he joined the other, Mircea then sighed and leaned back in his chair. He was just a bit worn out after a long day unpacking everything in his dorm.

"Took me a bit longer than I thought. I caught my brother in a fight with his new roommate.." he sighed, rubbing his eyes. The Bulgarian shook his head in understanding and motioned for the waitress to come over. After taking the menus in their hands, Nikolai sighed. He knew what it was like to have a roommate that would cause trouble.

"I had a roommate last year. But in this case, it was his unusual sleeping pattern, sleeping in late and waking up early. Somehow that didn't bother him. It did bother me. And I'd confront him about it, making him to have a regular pattern like most people," he muttered, now looking over at the menu.

The Romanian had been listening and could just sit there, frowning a bit. "The one I had was just weird. Nice, but a little odd. He would tell great stories of his country, but kept a large collection of SpongeBob SquarePants stuffed figures on the windowsill by his bed. They were quite creepy…"

"SpongeBob? Ugh. That guy gives me the creeps.." the Bulgarian shuddered, one of his worst fears about to come true. He then bent his back in a way that his spine cracked, making some popping sounds in his joints. "Probably an overgrown teen that haven't learned to grow up mentally.."

"Yeah, that would make sense. Like you said earlier, you were fed up with immature people," Mircea chuckled, raising his eyebrow in amusement at the other cracking his back like that. He then turned to the menu and they finally decided on their choices. During the meal, the Romanian looked out at the river. It was a beautiful sight and various types of boats were passing by.

Nikolai was finishing up on his water, but smiled softly as he watched the other. When Mircea felt that a pair of green eyes was on him, he turned to see that the Bulgarian was watching. Blinking, Nikolai then muttered, a bit of blush on his cheeks; he was looking at the river now. The Romanian tried not to laugh, covering his mouth. "Sorry, but it's kind of cute to see you like that."

Rolling his eyes, Nikolai waved the waitress over to pay the bill. After the bill was paid for, the two started a slow walk back to the campus, enjoying the warmth from the sun. That night, Mircea was on his bed, having done a bit of last cleaning before settling in. He had been working on a letter to his parents back home. That day was definitely different from last year.

As the Romanian stopped writing for the night, he turned to look at the poster on the wall facing his bed. Then his eyes shifted to the case that held his fiddle, a gift that was given to him from his grandfather. It was all of what reminded of his grandfather- beautiful notes playing in his mind. Mircea smiled and he turned over to sleep after turning out the light. This year would be interesting and unusual.

…..

**I think I might have rushed through in their meeting, but I wanted to show that Bulgaria isn't cold, mean and even flat in his personality as portrayed in some fics. On the other hand, I wanted to show that Romania can be serious sometimes and not really childish at times. Oh, by the way, Andrei is Moldova.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: The title of this fic is loosely based on the mysterious fiddler from the play/film, "Fiddler on the Roof". He is seen a few times in the play/film, just being in background. I suggest that you check out the songs from the film version on YouTube. **

**Warning: Slight language**

**Characters: Mircea Tomescu (Romania) and Nikolai Tsvetanov (Bulgaria). Original characters belong to Mr. Himaruya, creator of Axis Powers Hetalia.**

* * *

Three weeks after their first meeting, Nikolai and Mircea had been busy with their classes. As the Bulgarian said on the first day, they'd see each other a lot. Mostly in the morning- they were early risers due to morning classes. But neither of them has time to talk to each other, so one would just greet the other while on the way to get something to eat.

During these weeks, the Romanian spent certain days in the flying school as it was part of the major program he was in. He had chosen to major in aviation science, with history as a second major. Mircea enjoyed every minute of his classes- he had grown up hearing the stories of top flying aces from his nation's Air Force during World War II as well as the early pioneers in the aviation years of 1910s.

So, it was no surprise to everyone in his family when Mircea announced his choices for his majors; they all knew it from the time he was a boy. As for Andrei, he had chosen business. For him, his dream was to start up a small winery. Andrei had seen many local wineries throughout the country and having studied the history of wineries, the younger brother was determined to prove that wineries in the Balkans area are better than those in more popular nations of Europe.

Mircea wasn't surprised at Andrei's choice of major. He had said that if Andrei ever started up his business- a winery, the Romanian would be his first customer. Now in the center where the students have gathered for studying, eating, relaxing and so on, Mircea was looking over at his assignments. Morning sunrays beamed through the tall windows, shining the light onto the floor at his table and onto his back, giving him a bit of warmth.

'_Stupid geology,'_ he thought, slightly annoyed. He had to take one of three science courses as a requirement for his degree. Deciding to move on to another assignment, the Romanian chewed on his pencil eraser. Unknown to him, two larger male students had come up to Mircea from behind, enveloping him in shadow.

"Hey, you're blocking the light! Get out the damn way! I-" the Romanian said angrily before his mouth got covered by a large, hairy hand. "Letmego!" he muffled through that hand, trying to pull at it.

"I don't think so. Gentlemen, take him to the weights room. And make sure that he doesn't make any noise," replied a dry, cool voice that sounded male.

The Romanian tried to get away, but they firmed their grips on him. It was impossible to escape as he was also blindfolded and half carried by the thugs. Since no one was in the center at that time of the day, there wasn't anyone around to put a stop to this 'kidnapping'. A few students and stuff did see them going by across the campus, but they thought it was just nothing serious as it was impossible to see the poor victim being blindfolded from a great distance. Unless you have a pair of very sharp eyes to know that there is something wrong.

After some ten minutes, the leader and his group got to the gymnasium where in a lower floor, the weights room was. The students who were still holding Mircea waited for the next command.

"Set him onto a spare chair; we'll put him on one of the weight machines later," the same leader ordered. Doing as ordered, they placed him onto the chair. Smirking softly, the leader yanked the blindfold off.

"Hello there. You must been wondering why we brought you here. I'll explain it to you in a bit, but first, have a look around in this room," he chuckled, watching Mircea.

"Wha..? Yeah, but that doesn't explain why your thugs silenced me or even blindfolded me," the Romanian muttered, a hint of venom in his voice. He tried to get up from the chair but the first student pushed him back down, keeping him firmly by shoulders. "Let me go! I have a class that I can't miss in an hour!"

"Nope. You're staying here because we want to see you holding up our interrogation. Just testing how well you can handle this," the leader answered gruffly. "Take him to that bench press over there."

The larger men then pulled Mircea up and roughly, shoved him onto the said machine. While they were putting weights on, the leader leaned over to look at the Romanian.

"Let's see how much you can handle this," he chuckled, a dark smirk on his lips. The Romanian paled slightly at this and grunted as the bar landed onto his chest. Interrogation? More like a torture.

* * *

Nikolai was getting his stuff together for his philosophy class. He figured that Mircea would be working on his assignments in the student center. So when he went there, all he saw on the table was abandoned notebooks, loose papers, cup of cold coffee, and a bookbag on the floor knocked over. The chair seemed to be off, too- the way it was moved.

'_Something's wrong. Where is he?'_ the Bulgarian thought, a worry coming over him. _'If someone has dared to hurt him in any way, they'll regret that.' _ His blood boiled on the inside at the thought that his new friend being harassed.

"Of course. Only one club would be capable of taking people like that. I'm surprised that they have yet to be suspended despite the reports about their tactics …" he muttered to himself. With that possible reason in his head, Nikolai took all of Mircea's things and put them into the bookbag. The Romanian would need it.

Of all the days, it had to be today. Shouldering the bookbag, Nikolai quickly sprinted out of the student center, past surprised students who were heading into the student center. As he continued making his way to the weights room across the campus, the weight from Mircea's bookbag was putting a strain on his shoulder. Shifting the bookbag to his other shoulder, the Bulgarian quickly made a left turn and did huge leaps going down the stairs, two steps at a time.

As the dark-haired man got closer to the room, he could hear what was going on. Slowly, Nikolai peered around the doorway to see what was happening. The club members were too busy and had their attention on Mircea to notice another person from behind.

"…he's resisting, boss. Shall I add some more?" one of the men asked, watching the Romanian being stubborn. The Bulgarian got close enough for everyone to hear.

"No, let him continue to resist. I want to see him this way- being stubborn and is doing a good job holding up our interrogation," the leader called Johnson replied.

"It's high time that someone feed you a taste of your own medicine," Nikolai spoke up quietly, now dropping the bookbag and just tapped the leader on his shoulder from behind.

"Hmm? Oh. What a surprise. Of all the places, I'd never expected to see _you_ here, Tsvetanov," Johnson said bitterly, turning to look at the other. Hazel eyes met green ones. There was tension between them. Meanwhile, Mircea was now held down by another two men. He moved his head upward to see what was going on.

Nikolai moved his eyes to the Romanian before shifting them back to Johnson. A low growl emitted from his throat. "I'd suggest that you let my friend go- he's going to be late for his class. Otherwise, there'll be a problem. With me," he replied darkly.

With a grunt, Johnson then had all of his men to let Mircea go, but not without punching both him and the Bulgarian in their stomachs. The Romanian grunted as a blow was dealt. Nikolai shot them a very dirty look. One by one, the whole Weight club left the room. Johnson made sure that the other two could hear what he said. "Fuck you both."

Sighing, the Bulgarian went over to the Romanian. He was glad that the other wasn't hurt too badly and sat down next to Mircea. A minute later, Nikolai's hands were shaking.

"Nikolai? Are you okay? You're shaking right now," Mircea said quietly, now concerned for his friend. He had never seen the other being this scared.

When the Bulgarian heard that, he snapped out of it. "Oh... yeah... I guess. Sorry- it's just that I was afraid that they'd do something worse to you. What were they trying to do?" he asked, turning to look at the other.

"Interrogating me, but it felt like more of a torture." The Romanian sighed heavily and slowly got up. Remembering what took place between Nikolai and the leader, he now got curious. Just what would have happened between them in the past?

Nikolai growled lowly. "As expected. They do that to nearly every student who poses as a threat and to try to recruit them into their club." He rubbed his face, pulling at his skin, then got up as well. "I got your bookbag in case you'd need it," the Bulgarian smiled a little, pointing to the bookbag.

Mircea took in what Nikolai had said about the weight club. "I see. They must been trying to size me up or something. And thank you," he said, bending over to get his bookbag. Seeing that the other was still concerned about his well-being, the Romanian sighed softly. "Don't worry about me. I'll live," he said with a bit of laughter.

At this, the Bulgarian smiled a little more. "If you say so. C'mon. Let's get you to your class," he said, waiting for the other. Now glad that Mircea was okay for now, Nikolai then thought about Johnson and his "club". It's likely that sooner or later, they'll bump into those once again. Sighing, the Bulgarian quietly waited for the day when the club would get busted.

* * *

As the two got to the classroom, one of Mircea's classmates told him that their geology class was cancelled for the day due to their instructor being sick. Thanking him, the Romanian silently gave himself a fist pump on the inside and was now widely smiling. Nikolai noticed the smile and snickered.

"Your least favorite class is now cancelled. I get it- I dread biology as well. It's kind of dull sometimes," he chuckled. Mircea looked at him, then seeing the clock, he decided that this would be a good time for them to catch up.

"Well, as my breakfast is now ruined, want to spend some time with me? We haven't been able to get together for the past few weeks," he spoke up after a while. Blushing a tiny bit, Mircea then covered his face with his hands.

"_Da_. Besides, it's the perfect time for us to get to know each other a bit more," Nikolai answered, but stopped short when he saw that look on the other's face. Trying to keep himself from laughing, the Bulgarian had a soft smile on. "You look cute like that."

"Am not," Mircea huffed. He peered at the other through his fingers before removing his fingers.

"Are, too," Nikolai teased. The Romanian went even redder and just stuck his tongue out. "Watch it or I might pull on your tongue," the Bulgarian chuckled, raising his eyebrow.

Rolling his eyes, Mircea then shifted the weight of his bookbag on his shoulder. "Let's get going, shall we?" he said, grinning now. He was still a little annoyed at the small teasing. Which it was unusual for him.

With extra time on their hands, they started for the student center. By then, it was getting noisy as more students filled inside between classes. "Here's a good spot by the window," the Romanian said, pointing out to a sofa. They speeded up their pace and got to the sofa by the window.

"Mmmm… also warm, too," Nikolai sighed blissfully, now pleased that the sofa was also in the sunlight. The cooling system had made them a bit cold. Mircea also managed to warm up a little. With their bookbags at their feet, the Romanian rested his head on the top of the sofa.

"So, I'll start off with myself…" Mircea started. He went on to talk about his childhood. Nikolai was quite impressed when the other told him the reason behind his major choice. As he sat there, he was taken in by the narrative voice. It was odd to be quite eased by that voice. Usually, Nikolai would just keep a distance between himself and another person, depending on the other's personality.

Or maybe it was the fact that Mircea came from a neighboring nation and his accent was so familiar to the Bulgarian. Either way, Nikolai sat there, his cheek on his hand. When Mircea noticed that the other was nearly tuning out, he flicked the Bulgarian on his forehead gently to get his attention.

"Ouch! Do you do that to people to get attention?" Nikolai asked, surprised, but a bit irritated. The Romanian raised his eyebrow.

"Well, you were nearly tuning out, so I had to do that," he retorted, then noticed the time. "We still have time for your story." Mircea then smirked gently and made himself more comfortable. He looked so innocent after flicking the other on his forehead.

The Bulgarian snorted, rubbing his forehead. "Sorry about it. So, it's now my turn," he said, chuckling. With that, Nikolai went into details about himself. Mircea sat there, quite at ease. His eyes widened when the other explained he wanted to go into aerospace engineering. Seconds turned into minutes. Nikolai continued, saying that he was fantasized by the designs of the planes and their mechanics. Near the end, the Bulgarian shifted around in his seat to stretch. As he stretched his hands, he turned to look at the other.

"Well, that's my story. At least, part of it," the Bulgarian said, smiling. By then, the sunlight had moved to the end of the sofa.

"You have more, I bet," Mircea chuckled. Then he turned to look at the clock. Almost one hour had passed and he moved his body so that he can stretch his legs. Nikolai had looked at the clock too. Getting up, he held his hand out for the Romanian.

"Let's get going," the Bulgarian muttered. "But, since tomorrow's Saturday, we can continue our stories. How does that sound?"

"Wonderful," Mircea answered, grinning. He pulled himself up with the other's help. With a slight blush, he mumbled thanks. At the blush, Nikolai tried to hide snickering and even keep himself from teasing. Now looking at the other, Mircea then smiled gently. "See you tomorrow, then," he muttered before they parted ways for their next classes.

* * *

Nikolai was in his dorm, trying to study for his next exam in philosophy course. Now getting tired, the Bulgarian got up to open a window for fresh air. As he did so, music was being played. Recognizing it as fiddle kind, Nikolai was quite surprised, especially at this time of the day. Being curious, he quietly sneaked out of his dorm and tried to follow the source of the music. He traced it to the stairway leading to the rooftop.

After making his way up the stairs, Nikolai was about to open the door when he saw that it wasn't closed and slowly pushed it open. He quietly walked along the roof and found a mysterious fiddler. But it was too dark to see, so he could only make out the back of the fiddler. The Bulgarian just stood there, listening for the music was beautiful. When the fiddler was done, he turned around to see Nikolai there. The fiddler got surprised and tried to get away.

"Pay no attention to me!" he exclaimed, running down the stairs with his fiddle in his hands.

"Wait! I want to talk to you!" Nikolai called out, but gave up. Sighing, he looked at where the fiddler left. Just who was that? And why was he playing somewhat familiar music at this time? With these questions in his head, the Bulgarian slowly made his way back to his dorm for more studying time. As he returned to his dorm, the mysterious fiddler had watched him from beneath the stairways.

'_You'll find out in time,'_ he thought, smiling softly.


End file.
